Corte Madera-based NanaWall creates systems for luxury homes throughout the world, such as this kitchen in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Corte Madera-based NanaWall creates systems for luxury homes throughout the world, such as this kitchen in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Photo: Lawrence AndersonÊ

Image 3 of 8

This indoor pool receives unobstructed views of the Golden Gate Bridge when the NanaWall panels are opened.

This indoor pool receives unobstructed views of the Golden Gate Bridge when the NanaWall panels are opened.

Photo: NanaWall

Image 4 of 8

When recessed, doors and windows by NanaWall integrate this kitchen with the home's deck.

When recessed, doors and windows by NanaWall integrate this kitchen with the home's deck.

Photo: Sean Balko

Image 5 of 8

Image 6 of 8

This kitchen in a Belvedere home includes sliding glass doors and windows crafted by NanaWall, enabling breezes off the water to enter the home when the doors and windows are opened.

This kitchen in a Belvedere home includes sliding glass doors and windows crafted by NanaWall, enabling breezes off the water to enter the home when the doors and windows are opened.

Photo: Saxon Holt, Saxon Holt/PhotoBotanic

Image 7 of 8

Top: This kitchen in a Belvedere home includes sliding glass doors and windows crafted by NanaWall, enabling breezes off the water to enter the home when the doors and windows are opened. Below: NanaWall is nearly 25 years old and has installed roughly 150,000 panels in the United States less

Top: This kitchen in a Belvedere home includes sliding glass doors and windows crafted by NanaWall, enabling breezes off the water to enter the home when the doors and windows are opened. Below: NanaWall is ... more

Photo: Lawrence Anderson

Image 8 of 8

Sliding glass walls blend efficiency, esthetics

1 / 8

Back to Gallery

When Ebrahim Nana first installed a sliding glass wall into a spec home in 1984, he had no way of knowing he just started a business that would spread across the globe.

Part innovator, part visionary, all engineer, Nana is the creator of NanaWall Systems, a Corte Madera-based company creating operable glass walls for luxury homes, businesses and sports venues.

The firm's designs can be found on Park Avenue, throughout San Francisco and across Europe. The company has installed 150,000 panels in the United States, and with its exclusive partnership with Germany-based Solarlux, more than 1.5 million panels have been installed worldwide.

Estate-style living in Upper Kirby District at Mimosa TerraceHouston Chronicle

Meghan Markle's Former Rented Home Goes on SaleWibbitz

Hot Trends in Home DesignCheddar TV

Zillow COO: How to Handle a Real Estate CrisisFortune

This Window Opens Into a BalconyCountryLiving

Macy's Announces Job Cuts, New Store ClosuresVeuer

9 Stunning Mansions You Can Own for $300,000 or LessTime

"Our designs are everywhere from Scandinavia to the Sahara," Nana said. "Architects recognize us as the leader."

Rather than viewing itself as a company simply designing retractable windows and doors, NanaWall asserts itself as an engineering solution, Nana said.

The company produces panels that absorb sound, retain heat, protect against hurricanes and high winds whipping at the top levels of skyscrapers. Their panels come in various shapes, colors and sizes, and a vast palette of materials enables a range of customization options.

"We have so many systems and options available, we're able to match any style," Nana said. "We can match the French look, or be installed in Victorians or Tudors and luxury buildings around the world."

"I'm an engineer by trade," Nana said. "It's important to have that background when selling an engineering product."

As part of its engineering core, NanaWall Systems prides itself on creating designs that are energy efficient and functional.

"Anyone can do a wall that opens, the challenge comes when it is closed," Nana said. "Is the room as comfortable when the wall is closed?"

His company was the first of its kind to meet strict European standards for energy efficiency. Even with the standards met and exceeded, Nana said the future of his company rests in making even more energy-efficient models.

"It's almost overkill," he said. "But we are doing it."

The company's exclusive partnership with Solarlux in the mid-1990s put the NanaWall in the stratosphere, he said.

"We gained access to more tools, technology and materials," he said. "It made us more refined."

Since that partnership, NanaWalls have been installed in AT&T Park, restaurants, corporate offices and luxury hotels. The company also installed panels at UC Berkeley's new football stadium.

Though commercial projects make up a significant percentage of NanaWall's business, Nana said the residential market still provides the most work.

The customization options and practical design of the product makes it attractive to designers and developers.

By setting the bulk of the panel's weight at the bottom, the systems are readily placed into existing homes or retrofit projects because they don't overburden the existing structure, Nana said.

Though the company now sets trends, it all started from humble beginnings, said Matt Thomas, marketing director of NanaWall Systems.

"Our start is similar to a lot of tech companies found throughout the Bay Area. We started regionally with one product and paid attention to the market and its demand," he said. "As the market expanded, so did we. We now have 20 different systems and options for hundreds of configurations."

Such choice gives architects and owners unparalleled options when creating a dramatic outlook.

For homeowner Stephen Fowler, NanaWall Systems expertly integrated the views of Mount Tamalpais and the surrounding hills into his five-bedroom Mill Valley home as it was being built this year.

Multiple sets of NanaWall sliding panels installed in the dining room open to the slate patio and backyard. Fowler said the system took three months to fabricate and install, but the final result was well worth it.

"I respect the German engineering quality that goes into the product," Fowler said. "I wanted my home to have an open and flowing feeling, and they helped deliver."

Twenty-two NanaWall showrooms exist, offering buyers direct sales. Nearly 40 people work out of the headquarters in Corte Madera, and a dozen work remotely. Nana estimates the company's Richmond plant produces about 60 percent of the sales, while the more complicated systems are fabricated in Germany and shipped overseas.

As far as the looks go, Nana said California clients are interested in designs that have walls of various heights. An example would be its Kitchen Transition System with windows 5 feet high behind the sink and 8- or 9-foot panels opening to the yard, effectively making it an indoor/outdoor kitchen.